Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Counterfeiting medicines are now considered as bioterrorism as there is a widespread of accounts operating across the globe. There is also share of these reports in America and Europe and certain measures are already being implemented to prevent it from spreading. If you are seeking medications for health complaints in Asia, on the other hand, you must be aware of some countries in the region which are notorious for counterfeited meds that even legitimate pharmacies are oftentimes victims.

The extent of the problem is never known as Asia, obviously, is the largest continent with various cultures and security measures implemented in each country. There is never a definite number being presented and the statistics may fluctuate in every place.

The Peterson Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to the total obliteration of fraudulent acts regarding the manufacture, production, importation, exportation and distribution of counterfeited medicines along with other non-profit organizations, private institutions and government divisions is currently paving ways to measure the real extent of counterfeiting in the region.

Counterfeiting is considered the crime of the 21st century. As technology gets fiercer and security more lax scammers are becoming more fearless. The great concern is for those belonging to developing cities and nations. Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are of particular target-- peddlers of fake medication use older heroin and methamphetamine smuggling networks around the “Golden Triangle” to get their drugs across borders.

Jakarta, Indonesia and Bangkok, Thailand is another concern. Thankfully, laws in Indonesia are becoming stricter against illegal importation of counterfeit medicines. The only problem which remains to be one of the major issue in the archipelago is its geographical demographic which enables fraudsters to transfer these counterfeits from port to port without being detected.

World Health Organization (WHO) has recently released statements which states that 10-30 percent of medicines are estimated to be counterfeited. Everyone fears that these ambiguous figures are too broad to really know the extent of the problem. Many critics also say that the industry may be growing rapidly than its legitimate counterpart.

Drug counterfeiters not only defraud consumers, they also deny ill patients the therapies that can alleviate suffering and save lives. Increasingly well-organized counterfeiters coupled with sophisticated technologies have allowed criminals to profit from drug counterfeiting at the expense of Asian patients. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the definition of counterfeit or falsified medicines in Asia. Countries issuing regulations have their own definitions, making information exchange and anti-counterfeit strategies development difficult. The feat of knowing the extent of this issue is still ongoing.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

More than 35 million individuals are currently
living with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) around the world. Many
are opening out to the public with an aim to create awareness and serve as a
warning to others but there are also individuals who choose to live in the cave
as this disease is understandably embarrassing and degrading.

With the increasing number of peoples being treated
with AIDS, many government bodies partnered with the United Nations (UN) and
World Health Organization (WHO) for the increasing access to antiretroviral
therapy (AVR). Although protective and
advanced measures are being adopted by many government offices, private
institutions, non-profit foundations and public organizations, the widespread
of counterfeit medicines are continuously increasing but less attention are
being paid into it as more and more issues are being considered as prior
importance.

The
Peterson Group, a non-profit organization battling against the illegal
manufacture and distribution of counterfeit drugs is one of the team dedicated
to eliminate the use of antiretroviral therapy in the black market, many of
which are found to be composed of substances such as paint, chalk and many
other compounds used in daily living.

Counterfeit Zidolan-N, a known drug used to counter
HIV/AIDS is found to be released in great quantities in Kenya, Africa and
Jakarta, Indonesia. Another drug, Truvada is said to be products of fraudulent
manufacturers in the United Kingdom. These operations are already said to have
been raided by the authorities but scam reports are continuously coming in as
more and more people are continuously patronizing under the table sales of
these drugs given that 240,000 of victims are under 15 years old. Most of them
are without the difference of the real ones from frauds.

There may be reasons for the lack of access of
legitimate, FDA-approved AVRs in the market. One of these is the fact that only
12.1 million individuals have been given access to real drugs, given that less
developed countries are underprivileged without much focus and support from
authorities and many more individuals living almost under the rock.

The cost of legitimate drugs is also one cause of
purchasing the more affordable ones with little or no awareness for its real
ingredients.

Lack of security is also one of the reasons of the
widespread. In Indonesia, for instance: the archipelagic geography of the
country provides open ports which enable fraudsters to transfer and import the
drugs without being detected.

Everyone, everywhere, involved in the fight against
AIDS wants there to be a cure. But until a cure is found, ARV represents our
only form of life-saving treatment. We have done our part in the process but
will continue to pursue our goal until a definite solution is found, hopefully,
in the near future.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning on the personal importation of
adulterated and counterfeit medicines continuously circulating in the market. With
the help of private institutions, online websites and non-profit organizations
which support the campaign against counterfeit medicines are now on full-force
to know the source of this widespread of erectile dysfunction treatment which
promises many but realizes none. Cialis is one of the products believed to
dominate the market. Even black markets are currently under siege in search of
fraudsters. In Jakarta, Indonesia, more than 20 stalls
were closed down for further investigation.

The
government is already being cautious on the strict implementation of rules against
these illegal medicines because of the discovery of fraud Cialis back in 2008
in New Zealand which led to one death and up to 30 serious adverse and 59 other
possible reactions. Victims had been verified to even reach Singapore. It may
also be possible that there are more cases on the neighboring countries.

According
to reports submitted to The Peterson Group, one of the non-profit organizations
partnering with FDA, four products had been found to contain dangerous levels
of prescription medicine to treat diabetes. All four products contain
glibenclamide, a prescription medicine used to treat diabetes as well as
prescription medicines used to treat erectile dysfunction.

Glibenclamide
acts by lowering blood sugar levels and its use by consumers who do not have
diabetes can produce serious side effects including coma and possible death.

It's
important to note that there are no safety concerns with genuine Cialis
products that are currently available on a prescription and obtained from a New
Zealand pharmacy. The product sponsor, Eli Lilly, is concerned about this
counterfeiting development and is working with New Zealand and international
authorities to investigate the matter.

It
may be possible that these products had reached your neighborhood. In this
case, stop taking the product immediately. Contact a doctor immediately if you
feel unwell. Even if you have not felt unwell, consult your doctor at the
earliest opportunity.

Medsafe
has noted for some time that counterfeit medicines have appeared at the border
in consignments destined for individuals purchasing over the internet. In
February this year Medsafe received the results of testing of some 27 products
believed to be counterfeit that were seized at the border during the second
half of 2007. Testing confirmed that all of the products contained an erectile
dysfunction prescription medicine (either sildenafil or tadalafil). In many
cases the products were contaminated with other medicine active ingredients
indicating poor manufacturing quality or further evidence of fraud. The poor labeling
and presentation of the products also indicated their quality was below the
standards required in New Zealand. Countries of origin included: India, China
and Thailand.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

The Peterson Group with a set of
individuals and experts aiming to stop the production, importation, exportation
and usage of counterfeit medicines has partnered with various entities, public
and private organizations as well as fellow non-profit institutes have
developed machineries to know which medicine is counterfeited.

Hologram Machinery

Fortunately, there are methods
developed to use in order for us to determine real from fake medicines.
Although there are no significant proof yet on how these machines and process
can be used and which ones can be the best option to distribute to the market.
The following are ideas given by the World Health Organization (WHO):

1. Holograms

Probably the most familiar overt
feature is the “dove hologram”. Holograms and similarly optically variable
devices can be more effective when incorporated with a tampered evident
feature. However, some holograms are easily copied as a lot of scammers are
also experts in technological advancement.

2. Invisible Printing

Using special inks, invisible
markings can be printed with some substrate, and which only appear in under
certain conditions like UV light or IR illumination. They can be formulated to
show different wavelengths and colors. This kind of new technology is currently
being studied in Jakarta, Indonesia.

3. Laser Coding

This method comes with a very
expensive cost. However, the results can be very impressive and would be very
hard to simulate. Laser codes can be applied to cartons and packaging, plastic
and metal components.

4. Chemical Taggants

Trace chemicals can only be done
with special and unique devices. Also, it can only be detected by highly
specialized reagent systems, but not normally detectable by conventional
analysis.

Bar codes

5. Bar Codes

Bar codes are one of the most
conventional method of uniquely branding some medicine packaging and
distinguish it from fraud ones. The so-called nano technologies allow
microscopic application onto available tablets.
However, there are also a lot of techniques done by scammers that can
duplicate bar codes.

6. Mass Sterilization

Serialization includes the
processes of generating, encoding, and verifying the unique identity of
individual physical items. Without mass serialization, the authenticity and
validity of the pedigree relates only to the lot number consisting of thousands
of bottles. However, a specific bottle of a particular drug cannot be
authenticated

7. Data Carriers

Data carriers are graphical
systems used to convey the product identifiers and associated information in
computer and/or human readable format. A mark, tag, or label applied at the
source represents them. Computer readable formats include linear and two dimensional
(2D) bar codes and radio frequency identifier (RFID) tags.